Friday, January 27, 2012

Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition
2012 Conference
July 14-15, Milwaukee, WI USA

Call for Abstracts

Since 2001, the Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition (JWMT) has worked to publish diverse perspectives on the occultisms, magical practices, mysticisms and esotericisms commonly known as the “Western Mystery Tradition.” The JWMT is expanding the work of the web journal through its first conference.

The JWMT conference is a two-day event open to scholars, students, practitioners, and the public. The keynote speaker is the Journal’s founder and publisher, Dr. Jeffrey S. Kupperman.

The study of western esoteric practices has risen greatly over the last decade, focusing on Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Modern magical practices and beliefs, outside of the realm of modern Paganisms and the New Age, have received little attention. Further, practitioners have had little opportunity to present their work, either as papers or in the form of ritual practice, outside of the internet or small groups. The focus of this conference is the movement of contemporary western esotericisms, loosely construed as the “western mysteries,” and their transition from the 20th to the 21st century. The Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition Conference 2012 is seeking abstracts for presentations, panels and practices centered on this broad subject.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:
Esoteric traditions such as Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, Martinism and chivalric organizations,

Ritual magical practices from organizations such as the Golden Dawn and the Aurum Solis and modern initiatory Paganisms,

Esotericisms from earlier periods, such as alchemy, Gnosticism and Neoplatonism, the magical work of John Dee or the medieval grimoire traditions, and their re-emergence and relevancy to modern praxes,

Theoretical, paedogogical, and methodological approaches to the study of the western mysteries,

The relation of the esotericisms to orthodox and mainstream practices and society at large.
We welcome presentations, panels and practices focusing on methodological and theoretical issues in relation to the contemporary study and practice of the various western esoteric currents. The conference encourages an interdisciplinary approach and welcomes perspectives from the disciplines of religious studies, theology, anthropology, sociology, psychology, philosophy, history, political science, as well as active practitioners. Papers should last 20 minutes, with time for questions and answers. Panels and practices will be scheduled for up to an hour, with time for questions and answers afterwards as necessary.

Please submit abstracts (approx. 200 words), proposals for a themed panel (with three presenters, moderator as necessary, and short description) or proposals for a ritual practice and discussion to conference@jwmt.org. Deadline for submissions is April 15, 2012.

No attachments please; copy and paste your abstract or proposal in plain text into the body of the e-mail. Submissions are not limited to academics or professional scholars. Include a brief (no more than one page) CV listing any qualifications, academic or otherwise, relevant to your proposal.

The conference will be held at the Best Western Plus Milwaukee Airport Hotel and Conference Center. More information on the conference, registration, fees, accommodation, etc. is available at http://www.jwmt.org/jwmt12.

Hortulus: The Online Graduate Journal of Medieval Studies is a refereed
journal devoted to the literature, history, and culture of the medieval
world. Published electronically twice a year, its mission is to present a
forum in which graduate students from around the globe may share their
ideas. Article submissions on the selected theme are welcome in any
discipline and period of Medieval Studies. We are also interested in book
reviews on recent works of interest to a broad audience of Medieval
Studies scholars.

Recently, place and space theories have manifested themselves in Medieval
Studies in a number of ways, from analysis of specific spaces and places,
such as gardens, forests, cities, and the court, to spatially theorized
topics such as travel narratives, nationalism, and the open- or closedness
of specific medieval cultural areas. Over an array of subjects, the
spatial turn challenges scholars to re-think how humans create the world
around them, through both physical and mental processes. Articles should
explore the meaning of space/place in the past by situating it in its
precise historical context.

Possible article topics include, but are not limited to:

Medieval representations of spatial order
The sense of place in the construction of social identities
Mapping and spatial imagination
Topographies of meaningful places
Beyond the binary of center/periphery
Spatial policies of separation: ethnicity, religion, or gender
Travel and the sense of place
Creating landscape
The idea of place in medieval religious culture
Pilgrimage
Workplaces
Intimate space, public place
Liminality and proximity as social categories

The 2011 issue of Hortulus: The Online Graduate Journal of Medieval
Studies will be published in May of 2012. All graduate students are
welcome to submit their articles and book reviews, or to send their
queries, via email to submit@hortulus.net by March 1, 2012. For further
information please visit our website at www.hortulus.net

Friday, January 20, 2012

On the World and Its Parts
The world is a great and perfect animal,
statue of God, which praises and resembles God:

Immortal Soul
Within a fist of the brain I dwell and I devour
so much that all the books that the world contains
could not satiate my profound appetite.
...
and the more I understand, the more I do not know.
So I am the image of the immense Father
...
only he who becomes Him and is born in Him is certain and blessed.

The Way to Philosophize
The world is the book in which the eternal Intellect
wrote His concepts, and a living temple
where, painting the exploits and His own example,
He adorned with living statues the depths and the heights;
so every spirit here should read and contemplate
art and government, so as not to become impious
and be able to say: “I fulfill the universe,
and by contemplating God internalize all things.”